


The Forgotten One

by neko1kitty



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Multi, whatifLavellanwasanForgottenOne
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-03-12 21:53:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3356633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neko1kitty/pseuds/neko1kitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mahanon Lavellan is a Forgotten One, the last one in Thedas,the Dalish know little of them, but what legends they have are mostly wrong. He is now in the future, expected to save the world and to lead an organization, what he did not expect was to meet and old 'friend' disguised as an elven hedge mage. (AU What if Lavellan was a Forgotten One)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. My Name is Solas

 

 

The demons kept coming, the humans were getting tired but the durgen’len seemed to almost enjoy fighting them. I hit the closest shade with my staff and electrocuted it, it screeched as it died.

“Nice one!” he yelled as he shot another shade, most of the humans that were fighting with us have died, such a waste, I hope I’m right, no, I must be right or else everything is lost. I heard shouting down the path, the Seeker’s voice, then he must be awake.

They joined the fight, the Dalish elf freezing the last of the remaining shades, the Seeker following him, destroying the brittle demons. Now that they are all dead, the rift has changed, I ran to him and grabbed his hand.

“Quickly! Before more come through!” I yelled as I trust his hand towards the rift, green magic arched towards it and after a few moments it was closed. This can be fixed!

“Let go!” he violently pulled his hand from me and bared his teeth.

“Please, do not be alarmed! The mark upon your hand is the result of whatever caused the Breach, I was merely testing a theory, and it seems I was right, you can seal the rifts.”

He said nothing, he clenched his left hand, the mark reacting , he was gripping his staff tight and leaned away from me glaring. I was not expecting such a reaction, I was expecting surprise and questions not silence and aggressiveness .

The Seeker approached us “That means that you could seal the Breach.”, he said nothing, just kept staring at me.

“It seems you hold the key to our salvation”, I tried to get him to react, still nothing, but he turned his attention towards the dwarf when he introduced himself, as did the Seeker and myself, he argued with her a little about him joining us. I looked back at the elf and I saw him staring at me again.

“My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions.” But before I could continue he spoke.

“I call myself Mahanaon, we should press on.”  Thusly I was dismissed.

**\---**

I studied him as we followed his lead, he was tanned and had light hair, dark green eyes, the vallaslin of Dirthamen in clear yellow lines, I smiled a little, the Keeper of Secrets would not like this young elf, too cold, also arrogant, a true Dalish it seems.

“You are Dalish, what was your interest in the conclave? Your people don’t usually involve themselves in human matters”.

He stopped and turned towards me and stared again, it seems that he was … searching for something? Maybe he thought I was a city elf? What do they call them? Flat-ears … that they would think so little of their city cousins pains me, how low the People have become, and it’s all my fault.

“I was there to spy. I would think that my vallaslin would have told you that.”

“Ahh.. You assume that I know the meaning of the markings upon your face.”

“Don’t you?” He turned to walk before us again, and threw a smirk over his shoulder. Arrogant child! Like all of these dalish who consider themselves true elves, children who play at old traditions  they know nothing about, they are lost and they don’t even know it.

We marched on, we fought more demons, there was little talk, the dwarf, Varric, seemed to sense the tense atmosphere between us, the Seeker as well, but she chose to ignore it while he did not.

“So… what clan are you from? I know a dalish elf, she has a penchant for mirrors and blood magic, but Daisy is the nicest blood mage you could ever meet”. The Seeker made a disgusted noise and the dwarf laughed, Mahanon also laughed.

“Really? I come from clan Lavellan, we mostly traveled in the Free Marches. What clan was she from?” Lavellan? It could be a coincidence.

“Yep, she's so nice to everyone, and she always got lost. Her clan was … Sabrae I think? I’m from Kirkwall, I followed Hawke,The Champion of Kirkwall, up Sundermount, they were stranded there , they lost their halla or something. The keeper talked to Hawke, spouting cryptic shit about a medallion and fate, and told us we should take her back to... ”

“I’m sorry” I interrupted “Did you say Lavellan? Do you know the origin of that name?”

“I don’t” he started walking faster, there were a couple of shades ahead of us. After we killed them I tried to make him elaborate.

“I find that strange, the Dalish consider themselves keepers of the lost lore, do they not?”

“I am new to the clan, I did not ask the Keeper the origins of the name, as I was not interested.” I was not satisfied with his answer.

“Were you not curious at all about your people?”He glanced at me over his shoulder, I could see him grit his teeth.

“They are your people too, Solas.” That surprised me, maybe I was wrong about him, but the way he paused before saying my name, ah, maybe he just dislikes me.

We continued , we were closer to the site of the Breach, Varric asked Mahanon how he survived, he replied that he doesn't remember, Varric saying that he should have spun a story to prove innocence and the Seeker chiding him for suggesting so.

 

Lavellan, I thought about my old friend, is he still in Uthenera? He must be nothing but ash by now, maybe if Dirthamen had given him an essence of godhood I could have awoken him, though it would have been unlikely that he would help me unlock the Orb, he detested betrayal.

 

**\--Arlathan at the Temple of Dirthamen—**

 

I ran through the city, fast as only a god could be, I chose the form of a black wolf with six eyes, I ran up the steps to Dirthamen’s temple the servants and slaves scurried from my path, at the entrance there were nobles milling, waiting for the slave in front of the doors to let them pass. I growled at them, they shouted and leaped out of my way. HA! Cowards, the slave let me through.  I slowed to an walk, as all his temples, this one was dark, barely any light, for all the knowledge he has he is very unimaginative , having to skulk around in shadows because he is the Keeper of Secrets. I finally reached the only room in the temple that was not dark, the library,containing all the knowledge he has amassed.  He was bent over a table reading a manuscript, I leaned on my back legs to reach the table and tried to smell the paper, it looked rough, not one of ours then. He took the paper away and laughed.

“Really? Six eyes? Couldn't you choose a form with two of them?”.He looked down to his paper again, and when he glanced back at me I was in my elven form again.

“I can see everything with six eyes” I replied, I took the paper from him and sat on a chair.”Is this from the stone children?”

“What is there to see? And yes, I traded one of the merchants a secret for it, apparently it’s about the early dwarven kingdoms and some of it is about this Stone being they keep talking about”. He seemed very interested, he took the paper back from me and sat down on the chair next to me, and put it back on the round table and continued to study it.

“Well there isn't much to see in your temple, true. Have you forgotten that you are the ‘Keeper’ of Secrets, maybe you should try to keep them. And you should know that there is a horde of nervous lords waiting outside your temple. ” He let the paper go and leaned back on the chair, slumping down, carding his fingers through his dark hair, as his temple everything was dark about him, his hair, skin, eyes and robes, the only exception the golden jewelry he is wearing, he has an affinity for the color yellow.

“Ugh! they always do this when I visit Arlathan! Wanting to make 'exchanges', as if they would have any valuable knowledge. Please my friend, help me get rid of them. ”

“Of course! my friend.”

We went into the main room of the temple, as soon as Dirthamen sat on his throne, temple servants slinked from the shadows to prepare the room, they lit the magical lamps, and all that was hidden was made clear, sentinels guarding the entrances, the beautiful mosaics on the wall depicting all of Dirthamen’s favorite location in our empire, and us. I wonder if they sensed me walking the halls before, I doubt it!

After the preparations were done, I went to stand next to the throne, and one by one the lords and ladies were let through. Oh and I had fun with them, twisting and turning them as I wanted, tricking them into spilling their secrets. As there were only a few left Dirthamen decided that he would handle them alone. There was a lady, plain but wearing an interesting necklace; she apparently found a way to infuse some essence from the Beyond into stone, and a lord, tall and fair with a servant accompanying him.

As he dealt with her I studied the last one. He kept glancing around, maybe admiring the walls, but to me he seemed nervous, he was tall and had short blond hair and large brown eyes that kept searching something, he was wearing polished armor, on the other hand the servant was dressed plainly, had his hair shaved, from the bristles it looked like he had very light blond hair, had light skin and green eyes . He looked entirely bored with the proceedings,understandable. Dirthamen was finished and the lady departed, but the lord did not approach.

“My lords, Keeper of Secrets and Dread Wolf, I am Sarelan, I plead that we may wait a few moments for my associate to arrive, he has the rest of the information” he bowed, though the servant did not. Dirthamen nodded.

“Where is your brother?" I  inquired " Attending some lord's Uthenera ceremony? ”  I joked. He sighed and refused to look at me.

“Yes" he pauses "He is trying to gain more followers, and he’s starting to perform ceremonies for important Dreamers, telling them the he will personally guide them to enlightenment in the Beyond if their families will pledge themselves to him.” I said nothing, Falon’Din’s obsession with followers and death could become problematic later on.

“I have waited enough!” Dirthamen bellowed, he was not a patient creature, but neither was I, the lord, Sarelan jumped, seemed more nervous, kept looking at the entrances. This should be amusing.

“Ah, my lords, I have some information, but is not complete you see, my associate should have the rest…” he spoke slowly as to delay this session as long as possible.

“Speak and I shall decide if I need to hear the rest!”

Sarelan began telling a story about finding an old ruin, ancient he said,  depicting the Forgotten Ones. Ah yes a popular subject since Dirthamen discovered a hidden room in a ruin in his travels, describing these ‘gods’ that brought misfortune but they disappeared, and they became the Forgotten Ones, Dirthamen chose that moniker to describe them. He suspects that they were some just powerful Dreamers that were worshiped. Dirthamen said that there were depictions of violence and cruelty  against the People, and found no mention of their names. The amusing part is that Andruil claims that she hears them whispering to her in the Beyond, and she’s trying to hunt them, believing that they were an old pantheon of elven gods. That woman, chasing poor spirits in her sleep. With Dirthamen paying attention to the lord, I was watching the servant to examine his reactions, when Sarelan mentioned the Forgotten Ones he became alert and his lips curled, amusement flickering in his eyes. Dirthamen didn't seem to believe anything of what the man said.

“I have searched, as have my followers, all of the Elvhenan, and we have found no other traces of these Forgotten Ones beyond that small ruin I found long ago, and I should believe that you and your ‘associate’ stumbled upon an undiscovered ruin?”. Sarelan started shifting in place and the servant steps forward. Quick to defend his master I see, I should find a way to trick his masters hidden motives out of him. 

“Keeper of Secrets, if I may?”, the servant inclined his head but did not bow as his master did. Fascinating! Dirthamen gestured that he could talk.

“He is deceiving you”, the servant said.”What are you doing? ” hissed Sarelan. I chuckled, this I did not expect.

“He is waiting for a thief to deliver documents from your library, though what he does not know is that no one would be foolish enough to try to steal from a god, he has been letting other nobles enter before him, waiting for the thief to arrive, but he was waiting for nothing”.

“You have betrayed me! After I took you out of the forest from the squalor you were living in!” Sarelan raged but made no move to attack the servant, aware of the sentinels watching his every move.

“Why do you betray your master?” I asked, curious, I glanced at Dirthamen, he was watching the servant with hunger in his eyes.

“Because he claims to be the most ardent follower of Dirthamen, and attempting to steal from The Keeper of Secrets is very disloyal, so I told him I had arranged for someone to break into the library and all he had to do is wait before the throne.”

“And you did all this to unmask him before me?” Dirthamen asked, intrigued.

“Yes!” the servant exclaimed “One should always know where their subjects loyalties lie!”

“Fine then! Sentinels execute him, and I shall claim your family to serve in my temples!” Dirthamen decreed.

“No!”Senarel screeched as he was grabbed “You snake! You ruined me!”, he yelled as he was dragged down to the dungeons.

“Approach me!” The servant knelt down in front in Dirthamen. His face was grabbed and from Dirthamen’s fingers marks spread on the servant’s face, his slave mark remained after he removed his hands.

He rose and gestured the now slave to do the same, he kissed his forehead and told him that a servant would come along shortly to inform him of his duties. After that Dirthamen left leaving us behind. Furious I followed him to the library. I yelled at him, how could he repay the elf by making him a slave, we agreed that we would not take on new slaves, he calmly replied that he knew my views on slavery but he felt that this was the best decision. I left without replying. On my way out of the temple I found the slave still in the throne room studying the mosaics of us, the elven gods, every one of our temples has them. I asked him his name, he turned towards me lips curling and replied:

“Lavellan”

 

**\--The Temple of Sacred Ashes—**

 

We arrived at The Temple of Sacred Ashes, once beautiful and now it's in ruins, victims of the explosion twisted in the horror of those moments, all these lives wasted. I glanced at Mahanon, he seemed very upset at the scene surrounding him. Lavellan… I remember leaving the temple after finding out his name, I turned back into a wolf with six eyes and ran through Arlathan howling at the injustice, it was then I realized how broken our society was if a good deed was repaid with slavery, because Dirthamen desired him, he chose to ignore the elf's actions and acted on impulse, depriving Lavellan of his freedom. I tried to help him, to free him, and we became good friends, but I locked him too, with the others because he was too loyal, and now I’m in the future and everything is worse, and he is dead because of my mistake, my Pride.

We arrived at the Breach, all of us staring up, Mahanon making a joke about  getting up to the Breach. I looked at him, now I have two constant reminders of what my pride has wrought, but after all this is done, and I get the Orb back, I WILL undo my mistakes.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this idea has not given me peace for a month, so I had to write it. This will focus on the past, in the Elven empire and before, with a couple of scenes modified from the game,also I modified some canon lore to fit my story.


	2. Ar lasa mala revas,da’len

**At the Breach**

Here I am staring at a tear in the Veil, with the only means to close it on my hand, and The Dread Wolf standing beside me.  I was quite surprised that he didn’t recognize me, after he grabbed my hand to close a rift I was ready for a fight, I’m sure he was surprised by my hostility. At first I thought he was pretending, but then I remembered that I have  … changed, and  not only in appearance, when I woke up I traded a piece of myself with another to regain some strength.

I suspect that he’s involved somehow, why would he be here then? I suppose that he’d like to help, from what I’ve gathered humans don’t know much about the Fade, mages have some knowledge but it is limited, and there are only a few Dreamers in existence, most of them falling to possession. This mark on my hand is … interesting, it is magic and familiar, is it maybe a result from my little trip to the Fade?

 We started our descent towards the rift, glancing over my shoulder at Fen… Solas, as he calls himself now, I wondered what would his reaction be if I attacked him and declared that I was a ‘Forgotten One’, an amusing nickname given to us by Dirthamen, and I do want to fight him and show him what I really am. He called himself my friend and he betrayed me, tricked me, forced me into Uthenera to aid the elven slaves overcome their gods and corrupt masters, how disappointed he must been when saw that the elves traded one master for another.

Along the way we encountered red lyrium , Varric mentioning that he encountered it before. I have never seen this form of lyrium before, it feels wrong, tainted, Varric told the Seeker that it was evil, like it had a mind of its own, like it was alive; he does not know how close he is to the truth. As we passed the lyrium we heard voices, a strong masculine voice asking for sacrifice and an old, frail feminine voice asking for help.

“That was Divine Justinia’s voice” Cassandra’s words trembled, Varric looked surprised and Solas had a blank expression. The cry for help was repeated and then I heard my voice.

“What’s going on here?” I can’t remember these events; this is very strange, what happened in the Fade that I lost my memories? Did I find … NO! He is gone, hiding in the Fade; he told me I would never see him again.

 When we arrived in front of the rift we saw remnants of what happened playing before our eyes, the veil must be very thin here. There was a tall figure with burning eyes, the Divine held up by magic crying out for help, I saw myself arriving and the figure spoke again.

“Kill the elf!” he ordered and then the apparitions were gone.

“You _were_ there! Who attacked? And the Divine, is she…?” Cassandra started asking but I interrupted her.

“I’m sorry Seeker but I can’t remember”, she made a frustrated noise. Solas was examining the rift, he explained to us how it was possible to see that, he always had a way with words, even in the Trade tongue he manages to sound poetic. He explained that the rift was closed but not permanently and by opening it I could seal it properly, but warning us that we may attract attention from beyond the veil.

“That means demons. Stand ready!” Cassandra warned. Her men took their positions, preparing themselves for combat.

I raised my hand, the mark , as before, acted by itself opening the rift, we waited and then a laugh could be heard, a whip made of lightning crackled , a Pride Demon emerged.

“Now!” Cassandra rallied.

The archers started attacking, Varric helping them with his unique crossbow, Cassandra charged leading her forces,  Solas and I staying back as we attacked with spells.  Curious, he is not using his full power, he is either weaker or does not want to seem too powerful.  I disrupted the rift while the demon was distracted; it fell to its knees, giving us the opportunity to weaken it further. It recovered quickly and summoned a couple of shades.

 Solas and Varric were keeping the shades away from me while I was trying to disrupt the rift again, Cassandra was swinging her greatsword at its knees, the demon laughing at her attacks true to its nature.  I succeeded in disrupting the rift and it fell again, with a great cry of victory Cassandra jumped and swung her sword down, cutting the demons head off.

“Now! Seal the rift!” Cassandra cried.

I raised my hand to seal it, the pull of the mark stronger than before, I tried to concentrate but the mark was acting on its own. I fell to my knee, the mark was pulling on my magic, trying to find enough power to seal the rift, I can’t …  I CAN’T, they’ll find out, they can’t! I have to stop, but the mark keeps pulling, the Breach pulsed, the mark stopped and I was falling, falling into darkness…

Darkness….

\----

It was so dark, I can barely move, I have no strength in my limbs; I can feel my magic slowly regenerating. I am still in the room he sealed me in, where I was forced to enter  Uthenera, but he also limited my access to the Beyond so I could not find him, but I am awake now. He must have come back, weak as I might be I will still fight the Dread Wolf.

I could hear voices outside the room arguing but I could not understand the words, it was not him then, that is a new language, how long was I in Uthenera? The arguing stopped and then there was an explosion, I tried to shield myself but I could barely move. I opened my eyes but there was no movement, then I heard tentative steps.

There was light coming from the destroyed door, I could see two figures and they were not elves but a new race I haven’t seen before, they were speaking, excited, one in robes was gesturing wildly, voice increasing in tempo. His companion was armored, he must be a guard then the other one must be his master. The one in robes was inspecting the room, I tried to move again and my small movements attracted the attention of the guard.

   He came and grabbed me, pulling me up, the other one approached us, the guard held my hands behind my back. His master stopped before me, his eyes glinted with triumph, he was telling the guard something as he was examining me, he touched the markings on my forehead and tried to open my mouth.

I started to struggle, my strength returning, and my magic reacting. I smashed my head in the guard’s nose and pulled free, I grabbed the guard’s sword and fell into a fighting stance. The one in robes looked amused, he gestured to the armored one. The guard took out a dagger and started circling me while the other one received manacles, magic emanating from them; he thinks he can trap me?

“Where is the Dread Wolf? Where is he?!”  I yelled but they did not understand. The armored one attacked me, I twisted away and he grinned at me, I dodged his following lunge and trust my sword through his armor and into his heart. He stopped surprised, I twisted the sword and he spat blood. Satisfied I pulled free and he fell to the floor dead.

I rounded on the robed one, he looked surprised but not afraid. I could feel magical energies, he had magic. He tried to freeze me but I resisted with my barrier, he was looking worried… good. He tried to run, but when he could not move he realized that I cast a spell to paralyze him. I slowly approached him, he was taller than me, had small, round ears like the dwarves, a square face, small eyes, this new race resembled elves but were vastly different. I touched his face, he had hair on his chin, how interesting, but he interrupted my observations by yelling, annoyed I grabbed his face and burned him alive.

His last cries as he died attracted three other guards, they had same armor as the last one, but it was plainer. The one I killed must have been their leader, I let go of the corpse and they started shouting at me, threatening me I suppose. I fell into my stance again and curled my lips.

“Come!” I told them. This should be fun, a little warm up before I find the Dread Wolf. Their screams echoed in the room.

\---

**Haven**

A door closing awoke me, someone entered with soft steps, I opened my eyes slowly, a candle was burning on the table next to the bed I was on. I looked towards the noise, it was an elven woman carrying something, she startled when she saw me looking and she dropped her box. I rose and she started babbling, I asked her to calm down and she fell to her knees bowing and begging for my forgiveness.

“Stop that! Get up!” I barked at her. She straightened quickly and froze.”Tell me what happened”. She told me that I did not close the Breach but I stopped it from growing, she ran to the door telling me that the Seeker wanted to be informed that I woke up. I asked the servant where Cassandra was and she informed me that she was in the Chantry.

“At once she said!” the servant said once more before she left, closing the door behind her. I got off the bed and opened the box to see what was within, just herbs. I left the box alone and wandered to the window. The Breach was still in the sky but it was stable, this situation was more dangerous than I thought. The tear in the Veil must be deeper if the mark could not close it before it drained my magic. I must talk to Solas to see if he has thought of a solution, but before that I’ll met with Cassandra to see what she proposes.

I opened to the door to the cabin and went out. There was a crowd outside, and all of them turned to face me, parting to let me pass they saluted me, pounding their chest with a closed fist. They seemed… reverent. I smiled; this would prove to be an interesting experience.

 

\---

My name is Lanara and I was the slave of Magister Lucretius Avitus, and now I am free. I had to write down what I have witnessed. Master took me everywhere with him, he always said that he had to keep an eye on me. We went to Seheron because he received a letter about an elven ruin from another magister. He wrote that he was busy in Seheron with a competition and could not go to the ruin and he has decided to trust my master to get what was inside, my master was obsessed with elves and ancient elves especially, and everyone knew this.

The night we arrived at my master’s villa in Seheron he told me that there was an ancient elf sleeping in the ruin, that night he let me to sleep in the bed with him and not on the floor as usual. The next day master took me, his bodyguard Herminius, and a small group of guards to the ruin. The ruin was small and there was a wolf statue outside next to the door, the statue was frightening, it was taller than the ruin. He even took me inside; he never took me to the ruins he explored before. We were followed by Herminius and three guards, the rest were told to wait outside.

It was empty inside, thieves must have stolen what was in it. There was only a door besides the entrance. Master looked at it and told Herminius that it had and ward on it but it was worn.

“I think I a small fireball would be sufficient” master said.

“I think you should be careful ser, what if there are any traps?” Herminius warned but master started yelling at him that he is just a bodyguard and doesn’t know anything about magic. He told us to stand back and threw fire at the door, and it exploded with a loud noise!

“Larana you shall remain here” he told me and he pet my head “You three will watch her!”

 They went inside, the three guards were not watching me so I slipped after them, I had to see if there was a real ancient elf sleeping inside. I hid in a corner and watched as master walked about the room, he was very excited.

“Look at it Herminus, look at all the elven artifacts, all this lost knowledge, this room is untouched what thieves ransacked the antechamber could not reach this room because of the ward!”

 Something moved and Herminius grabbed it. He pulled it up and brought it into the light. I brought my hand to my mouth to quiet my gasp. It was TRUE! There was an ancient elf!  Master was so happy when he saw him.

“Yes! A real ancient elf! Imagine Herminius, just imagine what knowledge he possesses, I could gain favor with most magisters with just little scraps of information about lost elven spells,  this is my change to rise in the Senate! He was foolish to disclose the location of this ruin! HA! Does he think that I’ll still share? I’ll be even more powerful than he is! ”

Master touched the elf’s face, he traces his tattoos. The elf struggled and got free after he hit Herminius with his head, and he even stole his sword! Master waved at Herminius and he took a dagger out, Master got out a pair of slave cuffs, the elf looked very mad, he yelled something.

“Fen’Harel’an?Alai’an?” but I could not understand, it must have been our old language!

And then he killed Herminus! It happened so fast. I think master tried to attack him with magic but nothing happened, master looked very afraid, I think he tried to move but he couldn’t. The elf looked at master and touched his small beard on his chin, master started to scream and the elf burned him alive, and master kept screaming. I pressed myself to the wall, trying to be silent. The three guards ran inside, and the elf let go of what was left of master.

“What happened?”

“Is that Magister Lucretius?!”

“YOU! Disarm!”

They kept screaming but the elf was calm. He smiled and said something:

“Sahlin!”

Then he attacked them with fire, and his sword, and I covered my eyes but I could hear them screaming. I was so scared and I whispered silently

“Please don’t find me! Please don’t find me!”  When I felt hands trying to get me to uncover my eyes I screamed, it was him, he was kneeling in front of me, holding my hands!

“Elvhen?” he asked and touched my ear. I nodded quickly hopping that he wouldn’t kill me, he had a weird look on his face when he looked at my collar, I noticed that he had green eyes. He let go of my hands and got up. There was noise outside; the rest of the guards must have heard the screams.  He looked at me and said something in the old language again.

“Ar lasa mala revas,da’len **.** ”I felt my collar becoming lighter and lighter, I put my hand on it, it was turned to ash!  He left after that. I heard more screams, terrified ones, coming from outside. I covered my ears and rocked. After some time, there were no more screams and I went outside.

 There was a lot of blood and all the guards where dead, then I went back inside to write this, so they would know what happened here, what master did! I am free, he freed me! I will try to catch a ship to Antiva, find the wandering elves and tell them about this, about the ancient elf. I took some things from the room to prove my story and to trade for coin. Everybody will know that an ancient elf woke up!

**~A note found in a ruin~**

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Ar lasa mala revas,da’len"- You are now free, child (taken from the wiki)  
> "Sahlin"-come (I found this word in the Uthenera lyrics from the wiki, I assumed that this is the right word )
> 
> “Fen’Harel’an?Alai’an?”- I struggled with this, I searched everywhere for the word 'where', but I didn't find a direct translation, so I used 'an'-place, and I used 'alai' from the lyrics of 'I am the one' , so the translation is more like' Dread Wolf's place? Where is his place? ' which could be interpreted like "Were is the Dread wolf?Where is he?"


	3. You have endured

**The Hinterlands**

So here I am, following the Herald of Andraste through the woods, I guess habits are hard to break, Bianca would’ve been bored anyways.   We’re supposed to find an influential chantry mother, but instead we’re climbing every rock to find more of those creepy skulls that glow, well they’re climbing, I just wait for them, dwarves are not made for scaling cliffs.

 Chuckles and Scrappy were fighting again about some elven shit, things were tense between them from the beginning, but I think that the Herald just likes to annoy him.

“So… Herald, you said you were new to your clan, did you shift clans like my friend?” , Daisy told me that her clan did not have enough mages so that’s why she was with them, now that I think about it, she never told me where she was from originally.

They stopped bickering and Scrappy slowed down to walk by my side. Chuckles seemed very interested, even the Seeker paid attention.

“No Varric, I was not born a Dalish, I was accepted in my clan two years ago.” Well that’s … not really that surprising, I mean I did not hear him say the word shemlen in that contemptuous way of theirs, not even once.

“You are not Dalish?” Chuckles, on the other hand seemed very surprised, and angry, uh oh.

“I am now, unless my vallaslin vanished miraculously.” He rubbed his hand on his forehead and made a show of checking if his markings have rubbed off, Chuckles was not impressed. They remind me of Broody and Blondie, but with less glowing and fighting about mages, and more about having a pissing contest about who has the biggest elven… ears, hmm that was bad, maybe having an elven lore measuring contest? Nah, I’ll have to think more on this.

“You do not need to mock me, thought it seems that you acclimated well to the Dalish culture.”

“I think that it was necessary …  Solas, since you dislike the Dalish because they didn’t want to believe your dreams”. Ugh… the Herald was venturing into dangerous territory.

“I walked the Fade and saw ancient memories, wonders that you cannot even imagine and you dismiss them as dreams?” We stopped walking as they started another row.

“Andraste’s dimpled butt cheeks can’t you elves just get along? ” I could feel the Seeker’s slight disapproval at my choice of expletive; the Herald on the other hand started laughing.

“I just love how andrastians invoke their prophet’s name, I imagine if the Dalish would do the same with their gods they wouldn’t be so dour.”

“ _Their gods_?” The Seeker asked “You do not believe in the elven gods?”

“I believe that they existed but nothing more.”

“Then why did you join the Dalish?” I asked him.

“I was curious.”

“Curious!” Chuckles exploded, “You joined a insular and closed minded people and marked yourself in the name of a god you do not believe in, because of curiosity?! ”

“Yes! By Fen’Harel’s furry nutsack leave me be!” The Herald laughed at the look that Chuckles threw him.

“Did I get that right Varric, was it crude enough?” Scrappy asked me, I think Daisy would have fainted if she heard him.

“Eh, it works. You get points for delivery.” I told him, the Seeker sighed.

“Do you believe in the Maker?” She asked him, oh boy, the Seeker doesn’t know when to leave well enough alone.

“Do I believe in the Maker? Do I believe in a being that created a world and abandoned us here, not answering to our questions, not explaining our powers, our purpose here, letting us battle among ourselves, repeating history again and again? If that is the Maker you refer to, then yes! I believe!” Scrappy got really intense at the end there, the Seeker was speechless, I don’t that she was expecting that, maybe a no, but not that rant, but Chuckles seemed intrigued.

“I see…” The Seeker finally managed.

“Let’s move on.” The Herald huffed, well this conversation is over.

\----

We discovered a half destroyed keep with a red lyrium deposit inside, it was guarded by a bunch of templars, but Bianca and I dealt with them, well … with a little help from the others. The Herald was searching the surroundings for loot, reminds me of Hawke, and Chuckles was examining the red lyrium from a safe distance.

“Chuckles don’t touch it, you’ll go insane” I warned.

“We should destroy it” The Herald suggested, he was crouched over a chest. We all voiced our agreement.

 “You should do it Seeker, you’re the strongest and be careful not to touch it.”Cassandra destroyed it with the pommel of her sword.

“There, it is destroyed, but what about the rest of the growth?” she asked.

“I think it’s enough to destroy the main vein, but I’m no expert, also I would throw away that sword if I were you, you could never be too careful about this stuff.”

“Varric is right, without a main source of red lyrium the area will hold no interest, regardless of the small scatterings that are left, but disregard his warnings about the sword, it is not necessary to throw it away.”

“Varric, could you open this chest for me?”

“I Varric rogue extraordinaire, am at your service, Herald” I went to see what kind of chest it was, hmm… not that complicated. The Herald watched me work, Chuckles and the Seeker were talking about how Solas knew how to find us when the Breach happened, Lavellan snorted at his reply.

“Varric I have a question about your book.”

“Which one?” I asked, I’ll bet 50 gold that it was Tales of the Champion.

“Tales of the Champion, more specifically about Fenris.” He crouched down next to me, and glanced back at Solas to see if he was paying attention, then he continued with a lower voice.

“Did you exaggerate his abilities or are they true?”

“You want to know about Broody? Then let me tell you how I met him.”

So there I was with Hawke in Lowtown at night, we met with a dwarf named Anso for a business deal. So we went to a hovel in the Alienage to recover some goods, we fought the bad guys inside, and found an empty crate. Hawke was upset so we went back outside, and surprise surprise, we were ambushed.

Then we killed more bad guys, and when we were about to go up the stairs to leave the Alienage a human appeared declaring that we made a grave mistake. Then he called for his lieutenant, and I’m not pulling your leg here but when he appeared from around the corner that man was like a walking corpse, bleeding and walking like a puppet on strings, and then Fenris entered the scene.

He told the warrior that his men were dead and that his plan had failed, the warrior called him a slave and I shit you not, he moved fast as lightening, started glowing and shoved his hand into his chest, told him he was not a slave and ripped out his heart and crushed it with those pointy gauntlets he always wears.

  “So, no, I did not exaggerate, the best part is that most people believe that I made up the part about the lyrium markings, and that Fenris was just some ex-slave that followed Hawke around like the rest of us.”

“That’s interesting; does he know how the markings work?”

“I don’t know Herald, anyways, most people ask me if the markings were real, and when I tell them yes, those that know anything about lyrium are horrified and ask how he survived.”

“Does he know how he survived?”

“No, when we met him, he told us that he doesn’t remember anything before he received the markings, after a few years he regained his memories but not of the ritual, he told me that he only remembers intense pain.” The lock clicked and I opened the chest.

“Thank you Varric.” The Herald searched the chest but he had a faraway look on his face.

**Seheron**

An elf was waiting in a sterile room, he was nervous, but whatever he will face is worth it, his mother and sister were free. His master entered the room; Magister Danarius came to Seheron to organize a competition to find a worthy slave to survive a ritual, grating a boon to the one who won.

“Slave, are you ready?” Danarius asked, Leto nodded too nervous to speak. “Then undress and lie on the slab.” Danarius ordered, Leto quickly complied, and more persons entered the room, most of them mages. One of them was a physician; he lined his tools on a little table and cast a critical look on Leto.

“Bring in the slaves!” Danarius told one of the mages. The mage scrambled towards the door and let in about fifteen elven slaves. Danarius started explaining the steps of the ritual to the physician.

“Quintus, the ritual consists of three steps, the first step will be the incisions that will be your job, along with making sure he stays alive, you studied the diagrams I sent you?” Danarius inquired.

“Yes I did, they are quite complex, what kind of sedative shall I use?”

“Nothing! I don’t want any kind of substance in his blood to interfere with the lyrium. The next step involves pouring lyrium inside the incisions and sealing them with blood magic, and in the last step I’ll activate the markings.”  Quintus nodded and proceeded to start the first step; he told Leto to turn on his front and started to cut his back, respecting the design Danarius gave him to study.

 Leto made no sound during the first shallow cuts, but when the scalpel went deeper, he started screaming and tried to sit still, the physician ordered his assistants to hold Leto down. By the time he reached the lower back Leto had fainted, Quintus checked his pulse.

“Magister he is failing we need blood.”  Danarius nodded and started reciting an incantation. He signaled one of the mages to sacrifice a slave; the spell used the slave’s life force to sustain Leto.  The physician reexamined Leto, and proceeded with the cuts. 

The ritual was disturbed by the entrance of the one of Danarius’s bodyguards, he bowed and waited. Danarius told Quintus to continue making the cuts and addressed him.

“Yes?”

“Magister, we have returned from the site, Magister Lucretius is dead.”

“So the ruse worked, he fell right in my trap just as planned! Excellent, now leave I have to continue the ritual. ” Danarius was pleased, magister Lucretius, despite his various weaknesses, one of them being his obsession with elves, had quite a fortune and no inheritors with magical abilities. He has some connections among his relatives, with promises of scraps of power he will get most of that fortune and put one of his peons on the now empty seat in the Senate.

 Danarius would never understand the obsession with elves, they were a cowardly race, most of them weak, even their so called immortal ancestors fell before the might of the Imperium, though he could admit that some of them were pleasing to the eye and had their uses, like the one enduring the ritual. Danarius turned towards the screaming elf on the stone slab, he grabbed one of the elven slaves by the hair and slashed her throat with his ornate knife, using her blood to fuel the spell that was keeping Leto alive.

“That is not all Magister, Lucretius was already dead, and his entourage as well, we found about seven men dead outside. We investigated the ruin and found the charred corpse of Lucretius, and four more dead men. While we were on the path back one of the scouts spotted a Dalish elf dragging a man through the jungle, they were both covered in blood, we rushed him and the man started screaming and the elf snapped his neck. We managed to overwhelm and capture him. I believe that a clan of Dalish was squatting in the ruin and killed the magister. ”

“Dalish elves in Seheron? How did they even get passage to the island? No matter, bring him in, I want to question him. ” the bodyguard bowed and went to fetch the prisoner. Danarius gestured towards one of the mages to take his place in overseeing the ritual. Danarius inspected the slave that the mage was about to sacrifice.

“That one is small and thin; you’ll need two to keep the spell potent.”

The bodyguard came back accompanied by two guards that were dragging a disoriented elf. Danarius grabbed the elf’s chin and lifted his head, he had light blonde hair and green eyes, light skin as well, ‘They must have come from the south’ Danarius thought, he had the usual tattoos of the Dalish, this one had little branches decorating his forehead, reminiscing of a tree.

“Tell me where your clan is and I might let you live, I could always use more able-bodies slaves if this one does not survive” Danarius gestured towards the elf on the slab.”I heard that the Dalish are quite hardy”. The elf said nothing, his eyes roamed around the room looking for escape, but other that the door he was dragged trough, there was no exit. Annoyed that the elf was ignoring him Danarius grabbed the elf’s hair and shook his head.

“Answer me!”Danarius commanded, the elf snarled at him but did not speak. Danarius grabbed his ornate knife from his belt and slashed the elf’s throat, the guards let go of the elf, the elf being held up only by the grip on his hair while Danarius bled him for the ritual.

“At least you were useful in some way” He directed the blood into the limp elf on the slab extracting another scream for him, and let the Dalish go, he  collapsed and did not move.

“You are dismissed” The guards bowed and left, Danarius approached the slab and examined Leto. Quintus told Danarius that he has finished the back; Danarius told one of the mages to use magic to keep the wound open and ordered the attendants to turn Leto on his back. The psysician started on his front, Leto was too weak to move this time. After he was done Danarius told them it was time to start phase two.

  Two mages approached carrying vials of lyrium, a third mage appeared, he looked at Danarius waiting for orders.

“Claudius, place a paralyzing cage around him so he won’t trash around while we apply the lyrium” Claudius did ordered and Leto went still on the slab, the two mages proceeded to pour lyrium in his wounds. Leto released a chilling scream, the slaves shuddered, fear on their faces, wondering if any of them will live.

“Magister slow down!” Quintus interrupted, his tone urgent “He will die if we proceed at this pace” Danarius shook his head and killed another slave to keep Leto alive.

Several hours passed in this manner, an odor of death permeated the chamber, several slaves were sacrificed to keep Leto alive, they were mostly finished, they only had to seal the lyrium on his chin and forehead. After that was done, the physician examined the elf.

 “His pulse is weak, but stable”

“Good!” Danarius exclaimed “I’ll activate the markings now”

Danarius poured magic in the markings, the lyrium lit up and Leto opened his eyes and screamed, he started trashing, his arm phased trough the slab but after a few moments he went still and stopped breathing. Quintus rushed to his side, but did not touch him, afraid of the lyrium. Danarius stopped the spell and the lyrium stopped glowing, he barked at the physician to check on Leto.

“Magister he is not breathing his body was too weak to withstand the last phase”

“Nonsense! Apprentices kill the remaining slaves” each of the mages killed a slave, using their blood to try to revive Leto but were not successful.

“Weaklings!” Danarius yelled “You are unfit to call yourselves mages of the Imperium!” Danarius killed one of the remaining slaves and poured all his strength into the spell. Leto twitched and started breathing again. Quintus checked on him and shook his head.

“I’m sorry Magister, but there is nothing we can do, he is dying, the lyrium is killing him, sacrificing the rest of the slaves would be a waste”, the slaves in question were trying hard to sit still. Danarius nodded, realizing that he was defeated. He ordered everyone to leave the room, and told the remaining slaves to gather supplies to clean the room and to dispose of the corpses, then he left, the slaves were relieved, they rose and followed him outside the room, leaving the door open and left Leto alone in the room.

After a few minutes one of the corpses rose up, it was the Dalish, he touched his neck but had no wound, not even a scar.

“Anaris!  Ma…” He stopped and clenched his fist, he gazed at the dying elf on the slab, he could feel his blood inside him, he slowly approached the slab, the elf was barely breathing, but weak as he was he still turned his head towards the noise and watched the other elf approach him.

“Ma suledin.” The strange elf spoke; he grabbed one of the discarded scalpels and cut his palm.

 “Ar nuvenin na dirth ” the strange elf then cut a shallow wound on Leto’s cheek, Leto tried to turn his head but was too weak. He then pressed his palm to Leto’s cheek. Leto could hear faint whispering coming from the strange elf. He let go of Leto and wiped his bleeding hand on his own forehead, the tattoos that were there disappeared.

“Thank you for your knowledge. In exchange I shall give some of my strength” The elf pressed his head against Leto’s and whispered something. Leto stated breathing more deeply and his pain washed away.

“You will live, now sleep” The strange elf noticed that Leto’s hair turned white, his own skin darkened to a tan, his hair color a darker blonde, the result of their exchange. He took out an earring and put it in Leto’s hand. He then turned into a little bird and flew out of the room.

When a slave came into the room later to clean up and noticed that Leto was alive and, he immediately alerted master Danarius. He was pleased that the ritual was a success after all, but nobody realized that one of the corpses was missing.

**An Inn**

I woke up feeling rattled; Hawke was still asleep beside me. I did not think that there was anything left to remember but apparently I was mistaken. I rose up and started pacing, the ritual was still a pain filled blur, but towards the end there was … something. I heard Hawke shifting, I woke him up with my pacing.

“Fenris? What’s wrong?”I turned towards him, the lone candle in the room barely illuminated his form.

“I have remembered something”

“Oh maker, this feels familiar” Hawke chuckled and flopped on the bed.

“Hawke!”

“Yes , yes this is not the time for jests, I know. But what did you remember? I thought you already remembered everything when you met Varania” Hawke beckoned me to sit on the bed. I sat and he hugged me and rested his head on my back.

“I remembered the ritual, most of it was pain, but at the end there was a… being, a spirit maybe, it looked like an elf but it spoke in a language I could not understand, it touched my face and then it spoke in tevene, it told me that I would live, I think that is how I survived the ritual” Hawke kissed my cheek and rested his chin on my shoulder.

“A spirit helped you? Well at least you have a reason to be happy!”  

“And what reason is that?” I inquired. Hawke chuckled and pushed me on the bed.

“That Anders isn’t here. Just imagine the rant” He laughed and tried to kiss me.

“Phaugh!” I pushed his head away “Don’t remind me of the abomination” I chuckled and pulled him down to kiss me.

  In the morning while we were preparing to leave I took out my necklace, it had only a small token on it, I always thought it strange but for some reason I could not part from it. I found it in my hand when I woke up from the ritual, but I don’t know where it came from, it certainly did not come from Danarius, the spirit was the only one left, but how? The token is real, was it really a spirit or something else?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations(and thank god for the wiki)  
> “Anaris! Ma…” - "Anaris! You..."( Anaris is one of the Forgotten ones)  
> “Ma suledin" - "You have endured"  
> “Ar nuvenin na dirth " - "I need your knowledge"


	4. Spirits

The fields were uneven, fuzzy like things in the Fade tended to be, the city looming above me, distant and unreachable as always. I saw some figures of no discerning shapes, but two were isolated from the others, one on the ground and the other crouching next to it, spirits reenacting an event. Curious I approached to see, these two were defined unlike the others, they were both elves. 

The one on the ground was dark, and dirty, his breathing shallow, he was deformed and sick, the other was healthy, had bright red hair, and was dalish, the mark of Elgar'han was on his forehead. They were speaking, the redhead was holding the sick one's hand, as I got closer I could make out what they were saying.

“Please forgive me, lethalin” The dalish whispered, he draw a knife and stabbed the sick one.

“Thank you!” the sick one said before he died.

“I'm so sorry Tamlen” The redhead laid his head on Tamlen's chest, still holding his hand.

I heard a wolf howl, I turned around and I saw Solas watching the spirits.

“I did not expect to encounter you here, since you dismissed my fade walking as mere dreams, but it seems you were drawn here as well, the Hero of Ferelden left a strong impression upon the Fade.”

I turned back to continue watching, but the scene shifted, the Warden was alone and digging a small hole with his bare hands, the dirt under him was fresh, when he finished he planted a sapling. He then rose and said a small prayer, another spirit appeared embodying another elf , this one was tanned and blonde, with a tattoo on his cheek, he spoke with a distinctive accent, like Josephine’s.

“I'm sorry amore, but we must move camp, it's not safe here anymore” the spirits disappeared, and the clearing became a thick forest, 4 little shrines appeared before me.

“You people must have stories about the warden, considering that he was dalish.”

“I'm sure that you learned enough about him from your dreams” I replied absently, I kept looking at the shrines, the one on the left was glowing. I glanced up at the city.

“Is this Arlathan Forest? I thought your clan only traveled the Free Marches” he glanced curiously around, before he noticed the shrines before me. I stepped in front of the shrines to hide them from his gaze.

“Leave! This is my dream!” I told him before I expelled him from the Fade.

The fade changed, the forest was gone, I was on a battlefield, many of the People laid dead before me. The shrines at my feet were cracked, except for the glowing one, I bent down and touched it, I heard laughter and then...

I woke up.

That laugh, he's taunting me...

I got out of my tent, it was still dark outside, the rest of my party must still be resting, only the watch guards were awake. I saw a mage light in the distance and I went to investigate, it was Solas, he was examining a tree.

"This is the tree the Warden planted for his dead friend" he told me. He turned towards me and watched me with suspicion.

"Most do not notice me in their dreams, and even less could expel me from them. They do not have the ability to bend the Fade to manage that."

"My Keeper taught me how to throw out unwanted guests; I'll have to send her a letter to thank her". Solas glared at me, at least I think he did, the mage light was behind him, and all I could make out was his glowing eyes, a trait shared by all the elven, even their 'gods'.

"I find that unlikely, only a Dreamer can change the Fade in such a manner."

"Well... I'm not a dreamer like you..." I started but he interrupted me.

"Must you always amuse yourself at my experiences in the Fade" I could see that he was furious, still so quick to anger, I sighed.

"I did not mean do make fun again, I only wanted to say that we do not have the same abilities, and yes the keeper did not teach me, it was an old friend." He calmed down, now he was curious.

"I see. I'm surprised that you are still alive, most dreamers succumb to possession." he told me.

"That is the reason I don't walk the Fade often" I lied. "Please tell me about the Warden and what happened here." I could see that this pleased him.

"This is one of his old camps, He awoke from a nightmare along with his fellow warden and were attacked by shrieks, elven darkspawn. The warden and his companions defeated them, but a lone figure at the edge of the camp attracted their attention, it was an elf, sick with the Blight. The warden recognized him; it was Tamlen, his missing clan mate, thought to be dead. The Warden tried to reason with his friend, but Tamlen only wanted to die, to be free from the Archdemon's song. The Warden realized that he could not save his friend and ended his suffering. He buried him here, and planted a sapling, giving him a proper Dalish funeral."

"This is the tree that marks his grave. Now, can you tell me about Arlathan forest?" Solas asked, I might as well satisfy his curiosity.

"Before I joined the Dalish, I was in Tevinter ..."

"You were a slave?" he interrupted me again.

"Ha!" I laughed.

"I was never a slave."

-At the temple of Dirthamen-

I was lounging on the bed next to Dirthamen, it was still early and I do not have training for today, so there is no reason to get out of bed. I turned on my side to watch him, he was still sleeping, I chuckled, these godlings think that they are so powerful, I rested my hand on his throat, with one clench I could break his neck and he will never wake. I moved my hand up to caress his eyelids, he is lucky that I'm fond of his dark golden eyes, that and I have changed, let them think themselves all powerful, they will fall in time and others will replace them, until them I'll have my fun. I kissed his eyelids and closed my eyes, as I returned to the Beyond I pondered if I should visit Andruil again, or if last night was enough.

I awoke later to an empty bed, I could hear voices in the antechamber, I rose to see who it was, not bothering to dress. I entered the room and met the gaze of Fen'harel, his expression changed and he glared at Dirthamen.

"I thought you said that he was your bodyguard now."

"He is..." Dirthamen answered "But he retains some of his old responsibilities."

"My friend, he is a capable fighter, he became an arcane warrior in little time, can you not see that he is wasted as a slave?" Fen'harel stood up and started pacing "He has proven his loyalty towards you, must you continue to collar him?" Dirthamen on the other hand was calm.

"More than a decade has passed since then, I shall not change my mind, no matter how much you argue." Fen'harel moved away as I approached Dirthamen. He touched my hip and kissed my neck, Fen'harel looked furious, but before he could say anything Dirthamen raised a hand.

"If you continue, I'll have to refuse the favor you ask of me." A favor?

“Yes… forgive my friend” Dirthamen inclined his head to show that he forgave.

“I shall do you this favor my friend.” He caressed my hip “Lavellan get dressed, you shall accompany Fen’harel to Andruil’s temple and stay there for one year to protect him.”

“A year? Why does he need protection?” I asked. Dirthamen chuckled “I’ll let him tell you the story, and a year is not long. I was planning to visit my brother and for some reason he never is comfortable around you, now go.” He gave one last kiss before he dismissed me.

I went back to our room and as I changed I thought how lucky I was, now I’ll see how my little night time visits have affected Andruil, I laughed, now I have one year to play with her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided that I would try to write shorter chapters, to try to update more often. So for a couple of chapters we'll be in the past. Sorry it took me this long to update.


End file.
